Better Together (Patrick Kane)

25| Who Are Scared to Love One Another

Danielle

Two words. All it took was two words for me to know that he was all I needed in my life.

I press my lips to his once again and never wanted to separate them. But the door opens and immediately we stop kissing. I climb off of him and my uncle comes down stairs.

"Hey, we're back. Cam wasn't feeling well so we had to call it a day a bit earlier. What do you guys want for dinner" he asks.

"Doesn't matter to me" I say.

"Me either" Patrick agrees.

"Pizza it is" my uncle laughs. We sit there staring at each other and he squints his eyes at us. "Is everything okay down here" he finally asks.

"It's great actually" Patrick says and my eyes go big. Could he make it any more obvious?

"Alright... I guess I'll see you guys at dinner" he says slowly. He walks up the stairs looking back every once in a while. Patrick waves and I stuff my face in his shoulder.

"Ahhh" I mumble and he starts to laugh.

"Well that was awkward" he admits.

"He has some impeccable timing" I mention.

"When are we going to tell him we're... what are we" he asks.

"I don't know. What are we" I ask.

"Sit right here" Patrick says. He gets up and goes to his desk he had down here. He grabs a notebook then sits back down next to me. He puts his book in my lap and I pick it up. It read:

We are friends
Who speak like lovers
And that is enough for two teenagers
Who are scared to love one another

"Patrick this is beautiful" I admit.

"I figured that I should try to see things through your eyes. I liked reading so maybe I could try out poetry too. And as much as I tried to get away, this is the one that I always came back to, even if it is really short" he explains.

"I love it" I smile.

"And I love you" he says lacing his fingers through mine.

"So we still don't know what's happening" I remind him.

"Well I promised to prove myself as your best friend then we can be more than that. So do you think I've been a good friend" he asks.

"The best" I nod.

"So how about I try my hand at being a good boyfriend" he smiles.

"I wouldn't hate it" I tease.

"You're never going to make it easy for me, are you" he chuckles.

"Nope" I giggle. He rubs the back of my hand with his thumb and kisses the top of my head.

"Is it bad I feel like we've already been in a relationship forever" he asks.

"We basically have" I remind him.

"You are not wrong" he chuckles.

After cuddling for a little we decide we should probably go break the news to Uncle Stan because he's going to take it the hardest. I know just about everyone else will give us the "about time" treatment, but I wasn't sure about him.

We get upstairs and Stan was in his office reading. We walk in hand in hand just standing front of his desk.

"Pizza is on its way" he says.

"That's not why we're here" I say and he looks up at us over his glasses. He looks at our hands then back to us skeptically.

"Well, what brings you by then" he asks.

"I wanted to talk to you" I start. I slowly close his laptop and he talked his glasses off.

"It sounds important" he says.

"It's pretty big" I admit.

"Well we're not going to get anywhere playing the guessing game so let's cut to the chase" he encourages. Such a business man.

"I'm dating your niece" Patrick says and I turn my head to him sharply.

"You didn't want to sugar coat it, even a little bit" I whisper.

"What? He said to cut to the chase" Patrick shrugs. My uncle stands up and heads to the couch in his office.

"Please, take a seat" he says motioning to it. We walk over but he stops me. Patrick sits down and Stan bends down in front of him. Patrick squirms in his spot as he gets searched over.

"My brother left Danielle in my care under the presences that I would treat her as my own. And as far as I'm concerned she is my daughter. So I say this next part with nothing but love.

You hurt her and you're as good as done for. Seriously, I will be watching you. Treat her right or you're dead" my uncle threatens.

"Stannnn" I whine.

"I'm not done. I want her taken care of. I know you guys are young and growing up, you're going to make mistakes. But mistakes aren't going to last forever, but broken trust and respect does. Don't think for a second I won't find out" he finishes.

"No offense sir, but you have nothing to worry about. I know Danny better than I know anyone. I know her favorite color is blue and her favorite flowers are white tulips. Her favorite hockey player as a kid was Lemieux and she has a picture of him with her and her grandpa in her purse at all times. She loves love stories but her favorite is the Great Gatsby. She has three more years of school until she's done and I'll be cheering her on the whole way. She likes to cook more than she likes to bake but she always makes those brownie cookies because she knows those are my favorites.

And last of all she loves her family more than anything, and I would be stupid to think I can take her away from you guys. I know you're scared to lose her, I am too. But I'm going to do everything I can to help her. What she has done for me, I can't put it into words. And I hope I can do a fraction of things for her as she's done for me" he explains. I couldn't help but let the smile spread across my face.

"In that case... I hope you guys are happy" Stan says standing up. Patrick returns to my side and I look up at him.

"I'm always happy when I'm with her" he claims.

Eventually the pizza guy showed up and we all get our plates. We sit on the couch and watch a playoff game, all of us just screaming at the tv. Will and Cam had no clue why we were yelling but they do it too.

Patrick holds my hand in his lap with both of his, mostly so he doesn't hit me.

Suzanne comes home from her little get together and gets excited when she sees us all in the living room. She grabs herself a plate of pizza and joins us. She walks past me and pat but backtracks quickly.

"What's this" she asks pointing to our hands.

"I'm holding hands with my boyfriend" I say and she nearly drops her plate.

"No way" she screams and I laugh. Patrick kisses the top of my head and I smile big. "This is the best day of my life" she claims and Stan looks at her weird.

"Okay, besides when the kids were born and when we got married" she claims waving her hands around.

"Well thank you for your support" Patrick says.

"When are you getting married" she asks and I nearly choke on a piece of pizza.

"I'm still learning my way around the league and she's still in school. We also got together this afternoon. We're going to take it slow" he assures her but mostly me.

"Nice to hear. I'm happy for you guys" she says. She sits next to Stan and they hold hands too. I turn to Patrick as a smile spreads across his face.

"What" I ask.

"You have pizza sauce on your face" he laughs and I pout. He softly wipes it off and wipes it on the napkin on his lap.

"Thanks" I say softly.

"Anything for my girlfriend" he smirks.

"How long are you going to be saying that" I ask.

"Until I can call you my wife."